Dr. Fester, Mr. Bulbous & Baron Beefheart by Amy M. Ahlstrom, October 2005
Dr. Fester by Amy M. Ahlstrom
Mr. Bulbous by Michelle Reyes, October 2005
“HELLooo kiddiesss, this is Uncle Fester, and you’re listening to “Uncle Fester’s Bucket O’ Nastiessss,” featuring a turgid miasma of pre-punk, punk and post-industrial waystiesss on WMCN 91.7 FM St. Paul. If you have your own nasties you’d like to hear . . . don’t . . . don’t be AFRAID!! [Cackle] Call at (651) 696-6312 for requestssss. No matter how decayed, BLOATED, putrid or foul it is . . . I’ll play it [evil laughter].”
— Station ID used during the show, with The Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs” playing in the background. “Taste the whip, and bleeeeeeed for meeeee!”
“Uncle Fester’s Bucket O’ Nasties” Poster Gallery
I had a radio show for four years at WMCN 91.7 FM in St. Paul, MN and another year at KFAI 90.3 FM in Minneapolis, MN. It was originally called “Always Somethin’ Festering” and featured new indie rock at the time but quickly evolved into “Uncle Fester’s Bucket O’ Nasties” which took a more historical approach featuring pre-punk, punk and post-punk from between 1965 and 1983. Those dates are significant because 1965 was not only the first year that rock albums came into their own as an art form via Dylan, Beatles, Stones et. al., it also saw releases by counter-culture and hippie bands like Dave Peel & The Lower East Side, The Fugs, Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart His Magic Band, soon to be followed by the decidedly anti-hippie Velvet Underground — the roots of punk. 1983 was the last gasp of two-tone, hardcore and new wave before college, alternative and indie rock took over.
Click on the posters to see ’em in their large ‘n’ in-charge glory.
“Bob The DJ: A Cautionary Tale” was based on a dream my friend Eric Bestrom had, supposedly inspired by yours truly. It was originally published in his zine, That’s When I Reach For My Revolver! — Post-Teenage Angst and Kultur! in 1989. The next cartoon, “A Classic Problem,” is by Chris Kelly, who I don’t know.